The Fusion
by Bogey and Ikkle Bogey
Summary: True love and friendship overcome all obstacles- or do they?
1. Slider Awakens

Ariel- or now "Slider", she supposed-stared out the window of the long black car as she was driven towards the Oracle's place. She was still adjusting to the huge changes that had swept through her life in such a short time, leaving it in shambles.  
The first blow had come when she had suffered the loss of her best friend, Rebekah. They had been inseparable for nearly 13 years, although in their freshman year of high school, when Ariel spent more time with her boyfriend, Rebekah had, with good grace, retired back into the shadows to spend more and more time with her computer. Still, through that, they had remained faithful, loving best pals, although Ariel began to see less and less of her tiny friend as the years passed. Though rather worried, Ariel didn't really nag Rebekah about it. After all, this was her best friend, who was always there. Always. Indisputably. But then, one day, she wasn't.  
She had brought up the subject of her hacking projects and her never- ending search for what was wrong with the world, an itch Ariel had suffered but never really acted on, a few times. So Ariel was disinclined to believe that her best friend's sudden, inexplicable disappearance had anything to do with computers. Rebekah was too smart to give out her address, or private information like that to anyone online. But it still remained a fact that the one person she thought would always be there for her when the rest of the world had turned her back on her was gone, most likely forever. Her "kidnapping" had been tirelessly worked on for years by specialized detectives, but was never solved. She was written down as an unsolved case after two years. But Ariel was not to be discouraged so easily. She began her own life within the PC, falling into the fascinating world of code, hacking, searching...  
Soon, Ariel was just as deep in it as Rebekah had been. She refused to give up her search for her best friend, and she was also being pulled at, pulled at the core by something, a nagging doubt, a splinter in the back of her mind that something, something was wrong with the world she lived in. Something that she couldn't put her finger on.  
Which was exactly how Morpheus described it when she finally met him face to face. She had searched for him for over a year.  
"...like a splinter in the back of your mind," he said quietly, his pince-nez sunglasses still perched on his nose as he slowly turned a small mirror over and over in his hands. She could see herself reflected in his glasses; two Ariels, pale from not being in the sun for a while, and scared, but refusing to show it outwardly.  
"Remember," he had said, just as she reached for the red pill, "I'm only offering you the truth."  
She had stared at him for a while, trying to decipher what he meant. He remained emotionless, unsmiling, unmoving.  
That had started her new life, reborn into the Nebuchadnezzar, and then taken to Zion to be placed in the crew for the ship Bellerophon. Although she regretted moving away from the Neb, where she had made fast friends with all the crew, especially Miracle, the daughter of none other than Neo and Trinity, the heroes of the first war.  
Now she was traveling to the Oracle for the first time, accompanied by Morpheus himself, a young lady from the Bellerophon, Sparks, and the other obligatory bodyguards.  
"You must be good, girl," Sparks whispered to her as they drove to the Oracle's dilapidated apartment complex. "Not many people go into the Matrix this early, and especially not to see the Oracle. I didn't even get into a ship until I had spent three years in Zion. That's normal. The last person to get in so early was about 2 and a half years ago. Chick by the name of Ice. We joked, called her Ice Queen because she was so...I dunno. Special. Like you. And quiet- jeez. Didn't utter a word to most people. Took us by storm. Went to see the Oracle a week after she was unplugged. Still, good kid. Not stuck up or snobby or anything about her skills. Not sure where she is now, 'cept that she works a lot in the Matrix. You'll inevitably meet her, I can tell you're goin' to be spending a lot of time in here too."  
Ariel decided she talked too much. However, she wanted to meet this Ice girl. She sounded interesting and much in need of a friend, like her. She thought of Rebekah and bit her lip. Still enslaved out there somewhere...  
They finally arrived, and Morpheus took her up by himself. All too soon, she was stepping into the warm kitchen of the Oracle, alone.  
"Well, well, well. Hello, Slider. Now, you're quite a pretty thing, aren't you!" The Oracle spoke so kindly that Slider felt some of her fears melt away. "Now I suppose you know why you're here."  
Slider frowned. "Actually, ma'am, I don't. They just dragged me here with no explanation, or what I might hear from you."  
The Oracle laughed. "That sounds like Morpheus. Well, let me have a look at you." She walked slowly over to Slider and placed her hands softly on her cheeks, peering into her eyes.  
"Well, I do see great joy for you very soon, my dear. You are something special, no doubt. But also very odd in another way. You see, another girl came to me about two an a half years ago..."  
"Ice?" Slider asked eagerly.  
"Why, yes. She was almost as if she was your other half, you two are so alike...in some aspects..."  
"In what way? Please, tell me!" Slider begged.  
But the Oracle shook her head. "No. Now is not the time. You will see on your own soon enough. Now, won't you have a cookie before you go?"  
Slider took a warm chocolate chip cookie and walked out of the door in a daze. Not seeing where she was going, she smashed directly into a young girl coming through the door.  
"Owch!" The girl yelped, dropping the pile of books she had been carrying.  
"Sorry! I should have been watching my step!" Slider cried, helping pick up the books. Looking up, she was startled by the other girl's face. Small and peaked, her face looked vaguely Oriental, but no one could have sworn to it. Thick, long eyelashes framed large brown eyes, and her mouth was perfect, with full, rosy lips. Her hair swung away from her face like a curtain of brown glass, glossy and smooth, the bangs pulled back with a small rhinestone bobby pin. She was undeniably the most beautiful girl Slider had ever seen. But this new beauty couldn't hide who she really was.  
"REBEKAH!" she screamed, falling to the ground, staring up at her best friend who she had given up as dead two years ago.  
The girl's face went as pale as a sheet. "Ice. Ice. My name is Ice. Oh my god, Ariel, you found me. You found the Matrix. Ariel. Ariel. No, no, no," she gibbered, swaying back and forth before falling to the ground as well, in a dead faint. 


	2. Training with Raffi

Slider stared emotionlessly at the ceiling of the Bellerophon, not sure of what to think. It had only been a few days since she had first been freed, and she had already had enough shock to kill any newly unplugged- except her. Everyone had told her that there was something special about her. That she was important, a shining ray of hope for some reason. She couldn't fathom it. Neither could she fathom why she hadn't died of shock when she had seen her best friend, who she had given up for dead two years ago, walk into the Oracle's kitchen, alive and quite obviously well. But she supposed the reason she wasn't dead was tied into the whole deal about her being... exceptional. Whatever was so great about her, she couldn't see, but if the rest of the rebel population could, well, good for them. She sure couldn't.  
She looked over as Torque, the operator for the Bellerophon came striding over, along with Morpheus and a guy Slider had never seen before. She swung her legs over the side of her chair and stood up, looking curiously at the three people coming toward her. The stranger was a man who looked to be about 21, with a messy shock of dark red hair and deep brown eyes. He was indisputably diminutive in stature, but was solidly and compactly built, and under his tattered shirt, she could easily see his well-developed muscles. All in all, he was indeed startlingly handsome, and Slider had to struggle to keep her eyes off of him.  
"Slider," Morpheus spoke, his deep voice echoing throughout the core of the Bellerophon, "I would like for you to meet your new trainer, Raphael."  
"Just call me Raffi, please," the redhead spoke, smiling and displaying perfect teeth. He held out his hand to shake hers.  
"Slider. Pleased to meet you," Slider said shyly, her eyes fixed on her shoes but darting up to glance at him from time to time. She gingerly put her hand in his, and he pumped it so energetically that she was afraid her arm would come off.  
"Well, get ready to plug in, guys," Torque said cheerfully, rolling up his sleeves and plunking down in the chair in front of the row of computer screens. "Choose a chair, any chair."  
Slider tentatively slid into one of the chairs arranged in a circle in the exact middle of the core. This would be her first training session, and she was feeling just a tad nervous.  
Raffi climbed into a chair next to her. "Usually, we have a special training program for beginners, but for you..." Here he cast the captain who was standing passively nearby, watching them, an odd look. "Morpheus wanted you to go into the much higher level courses for your training. It'll be hard. But I'm not saying it's gonna be impossible. And plus, we can plug into the "real" Matrix and grab some lunch there afterwards. Anyway, I'm guessing you already learned kung fu."  
Slider let a smile escape her. "Yeah, Torque downloaded all that stuff into me yesterday. It was awesome." Her grin widened at the memory of her exhilaration when she had flawlessly executed insanely complex martial arts moves that would have taken a coppertop years upon years to learn, whereas it had taken her approximately 30 seconds.  
Raffi laughed. "It sure is fun, isn't it?"  
Slider giggled shyly and nodded. Raffi had a soothing effect on her, and she felt entirely comfortable around him, as if she could really be herself with him, although she'd only known him a few minutes. She hadn't laughed, or even smiled in weeks, even when she was still plugged in, and yet this man who she had just met was making her laugh.  
"All right, guys. Ready?" Torque came walking over, holding up the jack behind Raffi's head. Raffi glanced at Slider, who gulped and nodded.  
"See you there," Raffi said, and winked before Torque plugged him in, and his body went limp.  
Then Torque came to her. Slider looked over at Morpheus, and he gave her an encouraging smile. Torque smoothed her hair back from her face. "Be careful, all right?" he said, grinning. "Raffi's a tough trainer."  
Slider nodded once more, and Torque lifted the jack. She felt the still unfamiliar sharp explosion of pain from the plug being jammed back into the base of her skull, and her eyes squeezed shut, tears leaking out of the corners. Then, suddenly, the pain was gone, and she could no longer feel the wetness of her tears on her cheeks. Opening her eyes, he saw that she was in a kind of dojo, empty except for the man sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor. It was Raffi, dressed in loose cotton pants and a plain, but tight T-shirt. He had his eyes closed, but opened them as Slider approached.  
"Welcome to the Dojo," he said softly, his eyes going over her. She was clad in a black spaghetti strap shirt and black, tight fitting, stretch capris with a white stripe running down side on both legs. Nothing like the latex that Trinity was so infamous for; these were training clothes like Raffi's. Neither of them wore shoes.  
"How old are you?" he suddenly asked as he got to his feet.  
Slider, startled, answered quickly, "Nineteen. Why's it matter?"  
Raffi shrugged. "A little background information. I like getting to know the people I'm going to be stuck with for the next lifetime or so."  
Slider raised an eyebrow. "Stuck with? Consider it like I'm gracing you with my presence," she said loftily.  
Raffi laughed, then without warning, brought his leg up and kicked Slider into the wall. She hit it full force, smashing part of it off.  
"Always be on your guard. Always. You NEVER KNOW WHEN SOMEONE'S GOING TO ATTACK YOU," he roared, throwing a punch at Slider, still on the ground, who rolled hastily away to avoid it. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE IS ESSENTIAL! And ALWAYS pick yourself up right away when you've been struck down. Agents are ruthless; they'll attack you when you're down." Raffi helped a dazed Slider to her feet. "You've got a lot to learn, sugar. Remember that anyone, anyone who's not a rebel and is still plugged in is potentially an agent."  
Slider nodded. Good lord, this man had started in on her already, and they had barely been introduced. So much for the trainer-student bond she had been expecting to be created. Pretending to still be dazed, she leaned heavily on Raffi's arm, but then suddenly sprang up, swinging around and smashing her leg into his stomach. He went flying, but then somehow got his hand on the floor, gaining balance and twisting around to flip back onto Slider, ready to beat her without mercy. But Slider was ready.  
He descended, and she let him hit her, but she grabbed his ankle and used the force of the blow to propel herself far enough away to reach the wall with her arm, flip off, land behind him, and hook his arms behind his back with her hand, shaped like a gun, placed to his head.  
"I win," she said and giggled.  
Raffi was speechless. "That's never...I've never..."  
Slider gave a whoop and let him go, doing a kind of dance of celebration. Suddenly, she stopped short. What was she doing?! She was acting like she used to, before she was unplugged, before she had discovered the world of hacking, before she had become unsatisfied. She was an insane teen again, giggling, dancing around, and generally acting silly. She blushed hard and looked up at Raffi. He smiled sadly.  
"Slider," he said gently, walking over and taking her hands in his, "I know it's been hard. I understand. And that's why I became a trainer. Not only because I'm good at this, but also because I still remember how to be free, how to have fun and be silly. Don't be afraid to let that part of you come back. Be happy again."  
Slider felt her happiness dissipate into exasperation. She wanted to scream back at him, How can you tell me to be happy when everything is going wrong for me right now?! But when she stared into his depthless brown eyes, all her doubts and fears washed away and were replaced by the strength he shared with her.  
She smiled and nodded.  
He smiled back.  
Then she lunged at him, catching him completely off guard...again.  
"I WIN AGAAAAAAAAAIN!" she screeched and laughed insanely even as she battled him. Raffi threw back his head and laughed as well, and soon, the whole room was ringing with the sounds of their joy. 


	3. Last One to the Showers is a Bowl of Tas...

"Bring it, girlfriend." Slider lost her concentration and burst out laughing. "I highly doubt an agent is going to taunt me with that!" she exclaimed, giggling. "You never know. The new agents are better at disguising themselves in the system, and it works better if they use the same dialect as the people they're imitating." Raffi wiped sweat from his brow. "Let's take a break, okay? I think we've trained enough for now." "Enough?! Enough? How can you say we've done enough for now?" Slider swung her arms about wildly, looking extraordinarily silly in her black training outfit as she did a kind of wild jig around the room. "We can never be sure when we have to fight the agents, when we have to use every last bit of strength to make sure they don't come after us, and you think we've had ENOUGH?!" Raffi backed away from the bellowing girl before him. "How can you say we've had enough? We could be killed! We could die! We are the city's hope, and you think we've trained enough?" Raffi defensively raised his hands. "Ok, ok, we'll get back to work." He fell into the fighting stance, ready to push his tired muscles just a little more. "No I was just kidding. Let's grab some lunch." Ariel walked past Raffi and slung a towel over her shoulder. "Last one to she shower is a bowl of Tasty Wheat!" 


End file.
